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Vinales’ Caves are the remnants
of the Jurassic period. The karstic features of the caves have
made it the habitat of many species. In the Cuban caves there
are 45 varieties of aquatic invertebrates and 30 of terrestrial
ones. There are three types of cave animals the troglobytes,
trocophiles, and trogloxenes. Troglobytes are cave dwellers. All
of their life cycle is spent in the caves. The troglophiles are
living organisms who like living in caves as long as there is
enough food for them. The Trogloxenes are those species that
live in caves for only a moment in their lifespan. Among the
animals are the bat, the Pteronotus Macleayii or mustached bat
and the Phyllonycteispoeyi bat (the Pollen feeding bat) and the
butterfly bat one of the smallest bats in the world and the
beetle. An example of the aquatic animals that has adapted to
cave life is the Ludifuga fish of which there are 4 species.
This fish has no eyes and has lost their pigmentation. However,
many human beings too have dwelled within its walls at different
times in history using it for different purposes. The
Guanajatabey Amerindians, the taino, the ciboneys(siboneys) as
well as the marooned slaves used it for different purposes. If
the primitive people used the caves as shelter from the bad
weather and wild animals for the more evolved ones it was a
burial or sacred places. The Indian bones discovered in the
Cueva del Indio and pictograms on the walls testify of their
presence in the caves. A haven where one finds peace this was
the case of the slaves. In the subterranean gallery of 45
kilometres of Cueva San Tomas and Cueva del Indio, the marooned
slaves lived fleeing from the the bat, the Pteronotus
Macleayii,hardship of the colonialist masters. Within the
different chambers of the caves, they practiced subsistence
farming. |
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